[Stick_Welder_Steve]

My instructor is always known for making our class do insane projects at my local tech school but this one really caught my eye. Yesterday she had us start our first project with pipe, these are the specs and what the material is. 2 4x4 pieces of mild steel plate with 2 2" pipes with a 1/4 wall thickness welded in the center on each of the plates. She then wants us to take the welded pipe and plate fixtures and weld together the pipes with a 1/16 gap in between (both pipes do not have any bevels on them btw). What Iam basically asking is since we are to use 1/8 7014 to weld the pipes how in the hell am I supposed to weld em together and also get good penetration when the pipes don't have any bevels. Any tips on amperage and techniques as far as horizontal pipe goes will be much appreciated. I will also try and get some pictures up soon for those who don't quite understand.

[Poland308]

Fit up will be key. Grind the ends of the pipe square and true. Lay them in a piece of angle iron to get a good high low on your tack up.

[MinnesotaDave]

Grab 2 pieces of scrap 1/4" flat plate. Set the gap the same as specified. Dial in the amps on that before doing the pipes.

[VincenzioVonHook]

6mm isn't that tick in the scheme of things. I was welding 4mm plate the other day with a 3/32 7014 at 95A. Pretty bad fit up meant around 1.2-2mm gap pretty much all the way along a 2m joint. It was a butt weld, and im telling you now, i had to use a fair bit of manipulation to not blow holes with the gap. On the same section with no gap i would struggle to get full peno on a 3mm sheet with the same settings an an average travel speed.

I'd assume 6mm with 1/8 7014 at around 125-135A would eat away pretty good. Its amazing what a gap can do for penetration.